I saw this bumper sticker on a car while I was going to lunch yesterday. Each of the symbols has some "religious" meaning to a variety of groups of people.
What is your first reaction when you see this bumper sticker? Take a couple of minutes and look at it...
Some would assert that this is a rallying cry for all people everywhere to "just get along", to unite for the "common good" of mankind. I share an office with a young lady that has a bulletin board above her desk with quotes from the Bible, quotes form hindu prophets, hindu religious symbols, etc. We live in a confusing and confused culture. The message of pluralism, or the belief that "all roads lead to God" has infiltrated our society. Society would have us believe that if we all just get along and do good to our fellow man, we will all attain whatever "heaven" is for us individually. There was a similar culture long ago... let's take a look:
Genesis 11:1-9
The Message (MSG)
11 1-2 At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
3 They said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and fire them well." They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
4 Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."
5 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
6-9 God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next—they'll stop at nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.
What? Why would God stir up confusion amongst a united people? He saw the intent of their hearts. The Bible tells us that God recognized how powerful the force of a united people would be. He recognized their desire for notariety, to become "famous", to wield power, to make their own way in life.
When I see the bumper sticker above, I am reminded of the story of Babel. Society encourages us to "get along" and to be "tolerant". Any attempt to share the Truth of God's Word earns you a label of "bigot" or "intolerant" or a variety of other words, all with negative connotations. Society would have us believe that ALL religions or theologies are equally valid... all roads lead to God... all paths lead to heaven...
Jesus, speaking to Thomas, appears to differ from that line of thought:
John 14:6
New Living Translation (NLT)
6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Let's break it down a little more by looking at the most famous verse in the Bible, and the verses following:
John 3:16-21
New Living Translation (NLT)
16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 "There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.
If we have come to that place in our lives where we have recognized Jesus as the only way to eternal life with God in heaven, have asked Him to take that place of Lord, or "boss" of our lives, have asked Him to forgive us of our sins/wrongdoings and to help us to turn away from those wrongdoings to a life that would be pleasing to Him... We have a job to do. We have a responsibility to share TRUTH in a world of confusion and misinformation.
Think about it this way...
Your best friend steps on a rusty nail. A day or two later, he has a nasty infection in his foot. You know that a tetnus shot will get rid of the infection and allow his foot to heal. Your friend has heard that drinking orange juice will cure an infection and begins to drink large amounts of orange juice. You know that your friend has been misinformed, and you know that a tetnus shot will cure what ails him. What do you do? Knowing that orange juice is not going to help your friend get better, do you risk letting him die of a very curable ailment? - OR- Do you tell him that there is a certain cure for his ailment and risk being called names for telling him the truth?
It may sound like a silly analogy, but the consequences for the other person are far greater if we keep silent.
